Generally, an electrical connector includes some form of insulative or dielectric housing which mounts one or more conductive terminals. The housing is configured for mating with a complementary mating connector or other connecting device which, itself, has one or more conductive terminals. A connector assembly typically includes a pair of mating connectors, such as plug and receptacle connectors sometimes called male and female connectors. The interengaging terminals of the connectors, themselves, may be male and female terminals.
Some electrical connectors are shielded. In other words, the mating interface of a connector (i.e., where the terminals of the connector mate or engage the terminals of the mating connector) is surrounded by a conductive shield, cover or shroud which typically is fabricated of metal material and provides for EMI and RFI protection. These metal shields typically are separate components which surround at least the mating portions of a dielectric housing of the connector.
Some connectors include latch means for latching a connector to the complementary mating connector. Again, the latch means typically are separate components or exterior cantilevered arms, for instance, on the connector and may be an integral part of the shield. All of these separate components undesirably add to the size of the electrical connector in environments where miniaturization may be necessary or at least desirable. The separate components, particularly the separate shields, add to the manufacturing and assembling costs of the connector and simply complicate the connector's design. The present invention is directed to solving these problems by providing a new and improved shielded electrical connector having a novel and simple latching system, along with a method of fabricating the connector.